The Next Batman Movie
by The Ascended Ancient
Summary: Post and spoilers for The Dark Knight. Basically my take on what the third Christopher Nolan Batman movie will be like. With the city against him, Bruce Wayne faces a crisis in faith while a new villain toys with him and a new vigilante appears.
1. Chapter 1

_**The Next Batman Movie**_**  
Written By: The Ascended Ancient**

**A/N: This is just my idea for how the next Batman movie should play out. It's not at all official, and I'm not making any money off of my idea (unless Christopher Nolan reads this, likes it, and wants to buy it. Wouldn't that be cool? Yeah, I know, in my dreams). It stars the Riddler as the main villain, with a unique twist that's all my own. And I'll be introducing Robin in a very dark way. As for what the title of this fictitious Batman would be, I haven't quite made up my mind yet. I'll figure it out before the end, though, I promise. Enjoy.**

The movie starts out with a mix of flashbacks and real life action. We see the adult Dick Grayson equip himself with a light bullet proof vest, climbing rope, knives, and a silenced pistol. He ties a bandana with eye holes over his face. Then comes young Dick, spending time with his parents. There are clips of his dad doing knife tricks and his mother swinging on the trapeze. Back to the present, where Dick is climbing up the side of a building with an acrobat's grace. He reaches the top and pulls out a pair of binoculars and spies on a mobster. Flash back again to young Dick as he witnesses mobsters break into his parent's place and threaten them at gunpoint, demanding money that the Graysons owe them. The boss of the thugs is the man Dick is spying on right now. In the present, Dick uses the rope to get the drop on the mobster and his boys. He uses the knives in expert fashion, slicing and throwing them to take down his foes. He then draws the gun on the mobster. In another flashback, we witness the mobster and his boys shooting and killing the Graysons. Dick runs away. In the present, he pulls off his mask and tells the mobster that he's not running anymore, that the mobster and his cronies are going down. Then he puts a bullet in the man's head.

Meanwhile Batman is still out saving the people of Gotham, even though they regard him as public enemy number one. There's an incident where some of Dr. Crane's Fear Toxin is released in a poor area of the city, and Batman delivers the antidote to a local clinic that can't afford to purchase it. The head doctor, rather than thanking him, begs him to go away, and the moment Batman turns his back he triggers the silent alarm. Running from the police, Batman gets a bullet wound.

This situation is taking its toll on him, as is revealed when he returns to the new Batcave at Wayne Manor. It's far more sophisticated than either of the two previous caves, and is separated into several chambers. There's the garage, where the Batpod is parked. There's the equipment room, where the suit and gadgets are stored. And there's the research room, where a sophisticated computer is tied into the police database.

Anyway, Bruce is struggling to keep going. It's not the lack of praise; it's the lack of progress. Without Dent to prosecute them, the mob is rebuilding, and with Batman now a pariah rather than a source of inspiration, people are more willing to give in to them. Alfred tries to prop him up with his perpetual words of wisdom (god bless Michael Kaine in this role), but it doesn't 

do much good. Bruce became Batman to make a difference on a large scale, but now the only impact he's having is on small things. Alfred now asks if he is considering just giving up this fight, and Bruce absolutely refutes that. However, he is considering fighting in a different way. He is starting to wonder if by hanging up the Batsuit and focusing full-time on his company, maybe he can build it up into a powerful enough force for good that it's economic power can do what his alter-ego can't. Alfred asks if he's referring to the banking deal, and Bruce says that it's the centerpiece of his plan. He hasn't finalized his decision to abandon Batman yet, though, and in the meantime he says that he needs to get a new suit, because he's currently patching up a bullet wound (Not a serious one, really nothing more than a graze).

Meanwhile, in the Gotham PD, Commissioner Jim Gordon and his chief Lieutenant, Herald Timider, analyze a report of last night's Batman sighting. Timider displays himself to be an ally of Gordon in the department in trying to cover Batman's ass despite their mandate to hunt for him. Timider provides Gordon with the only clean blood sample recovered from last night's crime scene after Batman was shot so that Gordon can contaminate it so that a clear DNA match can't be made. Gordon obviously hates the current situation, and believes that the Gotham PD was far more effective when they were working _with_ Batman, even if it was off-the-books.

Downtown, Dick Grayson is in his apartment. It's clear from what's there that he's a performer, doing tricks and stunts on stage to earn a living. He's also assembled a decent arsenal and a lot of intel on the mob hierarchy, all the way up the chain of command to Sal Maroni. He gets a call from a source who conceals his voice with an electronic filter. This person gives him information about where one of his targets will be tonight.

At Wayne Enterprises, Bruce meets with Lucious Fox. The two men attend a meeting with the heads of the eight largest banks in America. Wayne is negotiating with them personally, with Fox advising him, and they're in the final stages of the discussions. At the heart of it is a proposal to ease up on credit restrictions and interest rates on the poor of Gotham. After some technical corporate mumbo-jumbo, the bank heads agree. Bruce leaves Lucious to work out the details of a few financial transactions between them.

When the meeting is over, Bruce and Lucious talk about this deal. Bruce believes that Wayne Enterprises can do more for the struggling and impoverished not just in Gotham but across the country. He says that Batman isn't the only means through which he can do good; his company is a powerful asset that he needs to use more proactively.

He also informs Lucious that the new suit isn't good enough, he needs another one with the same flexibility yet tough enough to take bullets. Lucious replies that with the federal warrant the Gotham PD received to try and track down how Batman is being supplied with his equipment, he can't grant any of Bruce's requests yet. Not for a new Batmobile, and not for a new Batsuit. He does mention that he's trying to work on some angles, but there's no guarantee they'll bear fruit.

Retiring to his office upstairs, Bruce revels in his frustration. He sees on the news that the outbreak of Fear Toxin is being contained and cured far more rapidly than expected, but that headline is secondary to reports of Batman having terrorized the already fear-stricken residents 

of that area last night. As he watches this he gets a phone call. It's from the same man who is talking to Dick. He lays out the first riddle of the movie, and says that a man's life is depending on it. He finishes the call by referring to Bruce as Batman. Shocked by the threat to a man's life and that this caller knows his true identity, Bruce Wayne immediately springs into action trying to solve this riddle.

**End of Part 1**

**A/N: Well, I wanted to cut it off here for now. I'll get back to this soon, until then, please review.**

**FYI: I'll be skipping over the details of the riddles, because quite frankly I don't have the skill to think them up and I really have no interest in wasting the energy to do so.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok, I added a little something to the end of the first chapter. When I started this fic I hadn't quite worked out all the angles. Now, however, things are falling into place, and I needed to backtrack and add a little something to the end. Also, I've finally decided on a title for this 'movie,' **_**Batman Avenger**_**. It may seem like a strange choice, but by the end of this chapter you'll understand.**

It's evening in Gotham, and Dick Grayson, following an address provided to him by the man on the phone (ok, I'll cut the vagueness, we all know the caller was the Riddler) to a dumpster in an alley. Stashed behind it is a duffle bag. Dick opens it and finds inside a set of gear far more sophisticated than what he was using. There's a full body suit of sleek lightweight armor inside. There's also a new set of knives, a gun that attaches to the right forearm of the suit, and even a more sophisticated eye mask.

Meanwhile, Bruce solves the riddle and takes to the streets as Batman. He arrives at a run-down building and goes inside.

At the Gotham police headquarters a call comes in from the Riddler, informing the cops that Batman is committing a murder at the address the dark knight is currently investigating.

Inside the building, Batman finds it difficult to navigate. There's a lot of debris everywhere, and after a while he sets off an explosive, and the whole foyer catches on fire for a few minutes. The moment he reaches a certain point, however, sprinklers are triggered, and the flames are put out. Finally, Batman is face-to-face with the Riddler's victim, Mr. Reese from _The Dark Knight_ (He's the one who at least believed he knew who Batman was and attempted to go public with that knowledge). He's been chained to the ceiling and is slowly bleeding to death from a number of wounds to his midsection. In the middle of his forehead, the letters "I", "E", "A", and "R" are carved in.

Just then, Batman hears the police sirens from outside. He leaps out the window and climbs onto the Batpod, but the cops chase him. There's now another crazy car chase, like the one in _Batman Begins_, just better. Try and envision it. No, seriously, take a minute. Cool, huh?

Anyway, while Batman is running from the cops, Dick is out on his own mission. He once again gets the drop on a mob boss, kills his henchmen with knives, and executes the mobster with his wrist-mounted gun. Before he does the execution he goes through a personal, vengeful monologue. He then slips away into the night.

At police headquarters, Gordon and Timider look over the reports about last night's encounter with Batman. They mention that the victim has died, which dismays them both because that was their best hope to clear Batman of yet another false charge. They study the letters engraved in Reese's forehead and wonder what on earth that's all about. They also bring up the recent murder of mob bosses, and that gives them pause. They know Batman wouldn't kill innocents, but mob bosses they're not so sure of.

At Sal Maroni's penthouse, the head of the Gotham Mob reviews a recording of the death of his lieutenant earlier that night. He's confused because the style of the attacker is similar to Batman, but the man killed his people, something that's not Batman's MO.

Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce talks to Alfred about his night. He states that now he knows how this new villain knows his identity, recalling Reese's role in the Joker incident. He also mentions the letters, and how he believes that they're very significant. So far, everything that this man has done has been cryptic and methodical. The riddle leading Batman to the scene, the obstacles that weren't enough to stop him, just enough to slow him down until the police arrived and saw him fleeing the scene of the crime, and now two letters that had been carefully 

engraved in a man's forehead. What it all means, Bruce doesn't know, but he believes it means something.

At Wayne Enterprises, Lucious seeks Bruce out to inform him that he may have a way to get a newer, better suit, one that's lighter than his current armor yet twice as bullet resistant. A military scientist named George Clay quit his job because the army wasn't willing to pay for a new body armor design he put together that would reduce the casualty rate of the American armed forces by seventy percent. He's now marketing his design to the private sector. Most usual defense contractors are being pressed by the government to try and shut him down. If Wayne Enterprises swoops in and acquires the designs and the prototype, they can make the study and production of the armor a public event, while secretly putting together the new Batsuit. Bruce tells Lucious to start talking to this guy, and Lucious informs him that he already is.

Bruce returns to his office, where he receives a phone call. It's from the same man as before, who finally identifies himself as the Riddler. After a heated discussion in which both men trade verbal barbs, the Riddler issues his next riddle. This one is much more complicated than the last one.

At Sal Maroni's penthouse, one of his men informs him that there was a survivor from last night's attack. The survivor reports that their assailant was not the Batman, although his style was similar in some ways. He also reports that it was an act of vengeance, according to what the guy said. Maroni muses over this, pointing out that their woes have increased, because now there are two dark knights. The first is a man of justice, who will maim them and deliver them to the cops on a silver platter. The second, however, is more vicious. He's like an avenging angel, determined to wipe them all out. This avenger is clearly the greater threat to them all.

Back at Wayne Enterprises, Bruce and Lucious crack part of the riddle. It has to do with George Clay and his armor, and the fact that they're looking into it. They're both disturbed that the Riddler knows this much about them, but are even more bothered that it seems like he has both Clay and his prototype. They wonder what this man could do with that suit.

Cut to Dick Grayson's apartment, where George Clay's prototype suit is hanging in his closet.

**End of Part 2**

**A/N: Well, that's the next part of this story. I'm expecting this to be about four or five parts long. Remember to review!**


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